Rusty Miller of Vancouver, WA, is among the players in the Amateur section of the 2011 Portland Centennial Open
More than 180 chess players descended on Portland, Oregon, for the weekend to help members of the Portland Chess Club celebrate the club's 100th anniversary.
Round 1 pairings for the Championship section can be found here.
Round 1 pairings for the Amateur section can be found here.
Round 2 pairings for the Championship section can be found here.
Round 2 pairings for the Amateur section can be found here.
Nathan Lee vs. George Lundy
Portland Centennial Open(1)
August 12, 2011
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. c3 d6 5. Bb3 Bg4 6. d3 h6 7. Nbd2 Nf6 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nf1 Qd7 10. Bd2 O-O-O 11. Ng3 Bg6 12. O-O Nh5 13. Bd5 Nxg3 14. fxg3 f5 15. Qb3 Kb8 16. Be6 Qe8 17. exf5 Bh7 18. Rfe1 Bg8 19. Bxg8 Qxg8 20. Qxg8 Rhxg8 21. d4 Bf6 22. dxe5 Nxe5 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Be3 Rd3 25. Kf2 Rgd8 26. Ke2 Kc8 27. Rad1 Rd3xd1 28. Rxd1 Rxd1 29. Kxd1 a6 30. g4 Kd7 31. g3 Ke8 32. h4 Be7 33. Ke2 Kf7 34. g5 h5 35. Kf3 Bd6 36. g6+ Kg8 37. Ke4 c6 38. Bb6 Bb8 39. c4 Bd6 40.Ba5 (1-0)
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Jamie Lang vs. Jason Ellis
Portland Centennial Open(1)
August 12, 2011
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Nc3 cxd4 6. Qxd4 a6 7. Bxd7+ Nxd7 8. Nf3 Ne7 9. Bg5 Qc7 10. Bxe7 Bxe7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 Rac8 13. Re2 f6 14. Rae1 Bc5 15. Qg4 f5 16. Qh5 h6 17. Qg6 Rfe8 18. Rd1 Nb6 19. Nd4 Qf7 20. Qg3 Nc4 0-1 (time)
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Subsequent note: The winner was kind enough to supply some additional notes. I will include these in my Northwest Chess article.(notes by Jason Ellis)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Bb5+?!
The usual response for the French Advance variation is 4. c3 followed by Nf3, in order to maintain the central pawn structure. The early Bb5+ gave the initiative to black, and I was unfamiliar with variation.
4... Bd7 5. Nc3??
The bishop needed to retreat or take on e7, due to the threat of 5...Bxb4 6. Nxb4 Qa4+ 7. Nc3 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6!! And white has to either give up the e pawn, or risk d4, winning the pinned knight. Unfortunately I failed to calculate this at the time.
5... cxd4 6. Qxd4?? a6?
Again, 6... Bxb4 7. Nxb4 Qa4+ could have won a pawn, but I was too focused on developing my pieces quickly, rather than looking for material gains.
7. Bxd7+ Nxd7 8. Nf3 Ne7 9. Bg5!?
Pinning the knight only allows the queen to develop to a good square, 9... Qc7, and 10. Bxe7 Bxe7 only gives black an extra tempo.
9...Qc7 10. Bxe7 Bxe7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 Rac8 13. Re2
White is trying to prepare for the inevitable f6 by doubling his rooks, and black is looking for action on the c file. 13. ...f6 was premature, but still not bad. Perhaps the knight hop to b6-c4 first would have been the right idea.
13...f6!? 14 Rae1?!
Better would have been 14. exf6 Bxf6 then 15. Qg4. Instead, by moving the rook, play could have gone 14...Nxe5 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16 Qxe5 Qxe5 17. Rxe5 d4! forcing the knight to a bad square and allowing Rxc2. I didn't see this until later, thought I could pressure the f2 pawn instead. As we'll see, I missed one key in-between move preventing this.
14...Bc5 15. Qg4
Threatening Qxe6+. Had the queen gone anywhere else, 15...fxe5 16 Nxe5 Nxe5 16 Rxe5 Bxf2+!! was my idea, probably winning the exchange. But Qg4 had the advantage of allowing me to stabilize the central pawns and allowed good queenside play.
15...f5 16. Qh5 h6 17. Qg6 Rfe8 18. Rd1 Nb6 19. Nd4? Qf7!?
19... Bxd4 would have been slightly better, but I didn't mind taking the queens off the board with such nice possibilities on the C file. Fortunately, he did not trade queens, with 20 Qg3 Nc4, and 21 b3 Nb2!! would have won material, and probably been decisive. Unfortunately for my opponent, he ran out of time.
Championship section Tournament Director Frank Niro (left) and Amateur Section TD Neil Dale (right) compare notes at the 2011 Portland Chess Centennial, 8/12/11
(photo credit: Jeff Roland)
For more coverage, please go to the Idaho Chess Association web site. Many thanks to Assistant TD Jeff Roland, webmaster for the Idaho Chess Association, for facilitating the links to the tournament pairings. Please come back for continuous updates throughout the weekend.
